Treatment of amalgam tattoo with an Er,Cr:YSGG laser

Amalgam tattoos are common, asymptomatic, pigmented oral lesions that clinically exist as isolated, blue, gray, or black macules on the gingival, buccal, and alveolar mucosae, the palate, and/or the tongue. In this case report, the successful use of an erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet laser for the removal of an amalgam tattoo is explained. A 46-year-old man is presented with a half decade history of an amalgam tattoo on his left maxillary premolar-molar gingiva. Depigmentation procedure was performed under topical anesthesia with the use of an erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet laser at 2 W in the soft tissue pulsed mode for 10 min. The pigmented tissue was completely removed. The de-epithelialization area healed completely on the 10th day after treatment. The period of healing was uneventful. The amalgam tattoo was completely removed with erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet laser, and the treated area healed without any adverse effect.